WO2018017385A1

WO2018017385A1 - Stacked connectors

Info

Publication number: WO2018017385A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/041875
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rao L. VITTAPALLI; Saujit Bandhu; Kok Hoe LEE; Yunlong Qiao
Original assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
Priority date: 2016-07-20
Filing date: 2017-07-13
Publication date: 2018-01-25
Also published as: CN209981521U

Abstract

A stacked connector assembly includes a first connector assembly stacked on a second connector assembly, a latching member, and a coupler. Each of the first and second connector assemblies includes a connector and a cable. The connector includes a dielectric housing, a latch receiving area disposed on a first major surface of the housing for receiving and removably attaching to a latching member, and a circuit board disposed in the housing. The circuit board includes a plurality of first contact pads disposed at a mating end of the circuit board for engaging terminals of a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly and a plurality of second contact pads disposed at an opposite cable end of the circuit board and electrically connected to the first contact pads. The cable includes a plurality of conductors terminated at the second contact pads at a termination region of the circuit board. The housing is overmolded onto and encapsulates at least the termination region. The latching member is removably received in and attached to the latch receiving area of one, but not the other, of the first and second connector assemblies for latching the stacked connector assembly to a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly. The coupler is disposed between and attached to the housings of the first and second connector assemblies.

Description

STACKED CONNECTORS

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to electrical connectors and electrical connector assemblies.

BACKGROUND

Electrical connectors are electro-mechanical devices typically including a mechanical housing supporting and/or partially enclosing electrical terminals. Electrical connectors are used to provide electrical connections between multiple electronic devices. Some electrical connectors include one or more printed circuit boards disposed at least partially within the housing such that electrical contacts on the printed circuit board can be electrically coupled to electrical terminals of a mating electrical connector.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Some embodiments are directed to a stacked connector assembly that includes a first connector assembly stacked on a second connector assembly, a latching member, and a coupler. Each of the first and second connector assemblies includes a connector and a cable. The connector includes a dielectric housing, a latch receiving area disposed on a first major surface of the housing for receiving and removably attaching to a latching member, and a circuit board disposed in the housing. The circuit board includes a plurality of first contact pads disposed at a mating end of the circuit board for engaging terminals of a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly and a plurality of second contact pads disposed at an opposite cable end of the circuit board and electrically connected to the first contact pads. The cable includes a plurality of conductors terminated at the second contact pads at a termination region of the circuit board. The housing is overmolded onto and encapsulates at least the termination region. The latching member is removably received in and attached to the latch receiving area of one, but not the other, of the first and second connector assemblies for latching the stacked connector assembly to a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly. The coupler is disposed between and attached to the housings of the first and second connector assemblies.

According to some embodiments, a stacked connector assembly is configured to mate with a mating connector along a mating direction wherein the stacked connector assembly includes a plurality of connector assemblies stacked in a first direction perpendicular to the mating direction. Each connector assembly of plurality of connector assemblies comprises a connector and a cable. Each connector has a dielectric housing and a circuit board disposed in the housing and perpendicular to the first direction. The circuit board includes a plurality of first contact pads and a plurality of second contact pads. The first contact pads are disposed at a mating end of the circuit board for engaging terminals of a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly. The second contact pads are disposed at an opposite cable end of the circuit board and are electrically connected to the first contact pads. The cable comprises a plurality of conductors terminated at the second contact pads at a termination region of the circuit board. The housing of the connector is overmolded onto and encapsulates at least the termination region. Each of at least two connectors of the connector assemblies comprise a latch receiving area disposed on a first major surface of the housing of the connector for receiving and removably attaching to a latching member. A latching member is removably received in and attached to the latch receiving area of at least one, but not every, connector in the at least two connectors of the connector assemblies. The latching member is configured for latching the stacked connector assembly to a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly. A coupler is disposed between and attached to the housings of each adjacent pair of connector assemblies.

These and other aspects of the present application will be apparent from the detailed description below. In no event, however, should the above summaries be construed as limitations on the claimed subject matter, which subject matter is defined solely by the attached claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1A illustrates a side view of a stacked connector assembly according to some embodiments; FIG. IB illustrates an exploded perspective view of the stacked connector assembly of FIG. 1 A;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing features of a circuit board of a connector assembly in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 3A and 3B present perspective top and bottom views, respectively, of a stacked connector assembly that includes an overmolded coupler according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates additional details of a stacked connector assembly according to some embodiments; and

FIG. 5 provides a side view of a stacked connector assembly that includes multiple connector assemblies in accordance with some embodiments.

The figures are not necessarily to scale. Like numbers used in the figures refer to like components. However, it will be understood that the use of a number to refer to a component in a given figure is not intended to limit the component in another figure labeled with the same number.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments disclosed herein involve stacked electrical connectors wherein two or more electrical connectors can be joined together to form a stacked connector assembly. The stacked connector assemblies described herein can be mated to a mating connector, such as a boardmount connector of a circuit board disposed within a chassis. Many applications today handle an increasing amount of data through the interconnection of multiple signal lines. However, connectors to support additional signal lines require additional space which can become problematic. A stacked connector assembly as disclosed herein can reduce the space needed to connect multiple lines. Furthermore, in many implementations that are space-constrained, connector assemblies having latches that reduce or eliminate interference with the chassis and/or surrounding structures before, during, and/or after mating and/or latching are useful. Embodiments disclosed herein can reduce the real estate needed for additional connections and can resolve routing issues within the chassis of devices such as servers and other data-intensive applications.

FIG. 1A illustrates a side view and FIG. IB illustrates an exploded perspective view of a stacked connector assembly 1000. The stacked connector assembly 1000 is shown in FIGS. 1A and IB as including a first connector assembly 100 and a second connector assembly 200. According to the approaches described herein, stacked connector assemblies may include two or more connector assemblies that are stacked to form a stacked connector assembly. Referring to FIGS. 1A and IB, each connector assembly 100, 200 includes a connector 110, 210 and a cable 160, 260. The connector 110, 210 has a housing 120, 220 which can be made of a dielectric material, for example. In some embodiments, at least the housings of the first and second connector assemblies may be identical. In some embodiments, the housings and/or other features of the first and second connector assemblies may differ from one another.

In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1A and IB, a latch receiving area 130, 230 is disposed on a first major surface 122, 222 of the housing 120, 220. Each connector 110, 210 includes a circuit board 150, 250 disposed at least partially in the housing 120, 220. A cable 160, 260 is attached to the circuit board 150, 250.

In some implementations, the connectors 110, 210 of the first and second connector assemblies 100, 200 are the same type of connectors. For example, in some embodiments, the connectors 110, 210 of the first and second connector assemblies 100, 200 may both be serial attached small computer system interface (SAS) connectors. As another example, in some embodiments, the connectors 110, 210 of the first and second connector assemblies 100, 200 may both be serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) connectors. In some implementations, the connector 110 of the first connector assembly 100 is a first type of connector and the connector 210 of the second connector assembly 200 is a second type of connector that is different from the first type of connector. As an example, the first type of connector may be a SAS connector and the second type of connector may be a SATA connector.

The latch receiving area 130, 230 is configured to receive and removably attach to a latching member 140. The latching member 140 can be removably received in and attached to the latch receiving area 130, 230 of one but not the other of the first and second connector assemblies 100, 200. According to some embodiments of the stacked connector assembly 1000, the latch receiving area 130, 230 of each housing 120, 220 is disposed on the first major surface 122, 222 of the housing 120, 220 opposite a second major surface 124, 224 of the housing 120, 220. The use of a latching member received in and attached to one connector assembly but not the other connector assembly conserves space and is particularly useful for space-constrained applications.

FIG. 2 shows features of the circuit board 150 of connector assembly 100 in more detail. The circuit board 250 of connector assembly 200 may have similar features to those of circuit board 150 shown in FIG. 2. Each circuit board 150, 250 has a plurality of first contact pads 152 disposed at a mating end 154 of the circuit board 150, 250. The first contact pads 152 are configured to engage terminals of a mating connector (not shown in FIG. 2) of the stacked connector assembly 1000. Each circuit board 150, 250 has a plurality of second contact pads 156 disposed at an opposite cable end 158 of the circuit board 150, 250. The second contact pads 156 are electrically connected to the first contact pads 152, e.g., via traces on the circuit board. The cable 160, 260 includes a plurality of conductors 162 terminated at the second contact pads 156 at a termination region 170 of the circuit board 150. The termination region 170 is indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 2. The housing 120, 220 is overmolded onto and encapsulates at least the termination region 170 of the circuit board 150, 250.

As best seen in FIG. 1A, in some configurations, the center-to-center separation 10 between the circuit boards 150, 250 of the first and second connector assemblies 100, 200 is within 10% or within 5% of a predetermined distance. The predetermined distance can be any suitable value depending on the application. In various embodiments, the predetermined distance can be in a range between about 5 mm to about 2 mm, for example. In some configurations, the predetermined distance may be 2.8 mm, for example.

Referring again to FIG. 1A, a coupler 300 may be disposed between and attached to the housings 120, 220 of the first and second connector assemblies 100, 200. For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, the coupler 300 may be disposed between and attached to the second major surfaces 124, 224 the housings 120, 220. In some implementations the coupler 300 is permanently attached to at least one of the housings 120, 220. In some implementations, the coupler 300 is removably attached to at least one of the housings 120, 220.

The coupler 300 may optionally comprise an adhesive layer 300a adhered to at least one of the second surfaces 124, 224 of the housings 120, 220 of the first and second connector assemblies 100, 200. In some embodiments, the coupler 300 may include a first adhesive layer between the coupler and the housing of the first connector assembly and/or a second adhesive layer between the coupler and the housing of the second connector assembly.

In some embodiments, the coupler may be an overmolded part. FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate top and bottom views, respectively, of an embodiment wherein an overmolded coupler 305 is overmolded onto portions of at least one of the housings 120, 220 of the first and second connector assemblies 100, 200. In some embodiments, the overmolded coupler is overmolded onto portions of more than one or each of the housings of the connector assemblies of the stacked connector assembly.

FIG. 4 illustrates additional details of a stacked connector assembly according to some embodiments. Each of the stacked connector assemblies 1000, 1001 shown in FIGS. 1A and 4 are configured to mate with a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly along a mating direction 20 illustrated in FIG. 4. The first contact pads 152, 252 of the circuit board 150, 250 of each of the first and second connector assemblies 100, 200 comprise a plurality of first signal contacts 153, 253 having a first average length and longitudinal mid-points lying on a first lateral axis 30, 32 perpendicular to the mating direction 20. The first lateral axes 30, 32 of the first and second connector assemblies 100, 200 are offset from each other by a first offset distance 15 along the mating direction 20. A ratio of the first offset distance 15 to the first average length of the first signal contacts 153, 253 may less than about 0.15, or less than about 0.10, or even less than about 0.07.

FIG. 5 presents a side view of a stacked connector assembly 1002 that includes multiple connector assemblies 100, 200, 400. In general, a stacked connector assembly may include at least two, at least three, or more than three connector assemblies. The stacked connector assembly 1002 is configured to mate with a mating connector (not shown in FIG. 5) along a mating direction 20. The stacked connector assembly includes a plurality of connector assemblies 100, 200, 400 stacked in a first direction 21 perpendicular to the mating direction 20. Each connector assembly 100, 200, 400 comprises a connector 1 10, 210, 410 that includes a dielectric housing 120, 220 420 and a circuit board 150, 250, 450 disposed at least partially within the housing 120, 220, 420 and perpendicular to the first direction 21.

As best seen in FIG. 2, each of the circuit boards 150, 250, 450 may have a plurality of first contact pads 152 disposed at a mating end 154 of the circuit board for engaging terminals of a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly 1002. Each of the circuit boards 150, 250, 450 may have a plurality of second contact pads 156 disposed at an opposite cable end 158 of the circuit board. The first contact pads 152 are electrically connected to the second contact pads 156.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, each connector assembly 100, 200, 400 includes a cable 160, 260, 460 comprising a plurality of conductors 162 (see, FIG. 2) terminated at the second contact pads 156 at a termination region 170 of the circuit board 150. The housing 120, 220,420 of the connector 110, 210, 410 may be overmolded onto the circuit board 150, encapsulating at least the termination region 170 of the circuit board 150. At least one or each of at least two of the connectors 1 10, 210, 410 in the connector assemblies 100, 200, 400 comprise a latch receiving area 130, 430 disposed on a first major surface 122, 422 of the housing 120, 420 of the connector 1 10, 410. Each latch receiving area 130, 430 is configured for receiving and removably attaching to a latching member 140. The latching member 140 can be removably received in and attached to the latch receiving area 130 of at least one, but not every, connector in the at least two connectors 1 10, 210, 410 in the connector assemblies 100, 200, 400. As shown in the embodiment of FIG. 5, the latching member 140 is removably received in and attached to the latch receiving area 130 of connector 1 10, connector 210 does not include a latch receiving area, and no latching member is attached to the latch receiving area 430 of connector 410. When received in and attached to the latch receiving area 130, the latching member 140 is configured for latching the stacked connector assembly 1002 to a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly (not shown in FIG. 5).

The stacked connector assembly 1002 includes couplers 300, 500 disposed between and attached to the housings 120, 220, 420 of each adjacent pair of connector assemblies 100, 200, 400. As illustrated in FIG. 5, a stacked connector assembly 1002 may include multiple connector assemblies, e.g., at least three connector assemblies 100, 200, 400. Two connectors 1 10, 410 of the connector assemblies 100, 200, 400 may have a latch receiving area 130, 430. For example, a connector 210 that does not have a latch receiving area may be disposed between two connectors 1 10, 410 that have latch receiving areas 130, 430. A latching member 140 is removably received in and attached to the latch receiving area 130 of at least one connector 1 10, but not every connector, in the at least three connectors 1 10, 210, 410 of the connector assemblies 100, 200, 400. In some embodiments, only one connector assembly in the stacked connector assembly may include a latch receiving area. In some embodiments, the latching member is received in and attached to the latch receiving area of only one connector assembly of at least three connector assemblies of the stacked connector assembly. Item disclosed herein include:

Item 1. A stacked connector assembly comprising:

a first connector assembly stacked on a second connector assembly, each of the first and second connector assemblies comprising:

a connector comprising :

a dielectric housing;

a latch receiving area disposed on a first major surface of the housing for receiving and removably attaching to a latching member; and

a circuit board disposed in the housing and comprising:

a plurality of first contact pads disposed at a mating end of the circuit board for engaging terminals of a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly; and

a plurality of second contact pads disposed at an opposite cable end of the circuit board and electrically connected to the first contact pads; and a cable comprising a plurality of conductors terminated at the second contact pads at a termination region of the circuit board, the housing overmolded onto and encapsulating at least the termination region;

a latching member removably received in and attached to the latch receiving area of one, but not the other, of the first and second connector assemblies for latching the stacked connector assembly to a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly; and

a coupler disposed between and attached to the housings of the first and second connector assemblies.

Item 2. The stacked connector assembly of item 1, wherein the latch receiving area of each housing is disposed on the first major surface of the housing opposite a second major surface, and wherein the coupler is disposed between and attached to the second major surfaces of the housings of the first and second connector assemblies.

Item 3. The stacked connector assembly of any of items 1 through 2, wherein the connectors of the first and second connector assemblies are same type connectors.

Item 4. The stacked connector assembly of item 3, wherein the connectors of the first and second connector assemblies are both SAS connectors or are both SATA connectors. Item 5. The stacked connector assembly of any of items 1 through 4, wherein at least the housings of the first and second connector assemblies are identical. Item 6. The stacked connector assembly of any of items 1 through 2, wherein the connector of the first connector assembly is a first type connector and the connector of the second connector assembly is a different second type connector.

Item 7. The stacked connector assembly of item 6, wherein the first type connector is a SAS connector and the second type connector is a SATA connector.

Item 8. The stacked connector assembly of any of items 1 through 7, wherein the coupler is permanently attached to at least one of the housings of the first and second connector assemblies. Item 9. The stacked connector assembly of any of items 1 through 7, wherein the coupler is removably attached to at least one of the housings of the first and second connector assemblies.

Item 10. The stacked connector assembly of any of items 1 through 9, wherein the coupler comprises an adhesive layer adhered to at least one of the housings of the first and second connector assemblies.

Item 11. The stacked connector assembly of any of items 1 through 9, wherein the coupler is overmolded onto portions of at least one of the housings of the first and second connector assemblies. Item 12. The stacked connector assembly of any of items 1 through 11, wherein a center to center separation between the circuit boards of the first and second connector assemblies is within 10% of a predetermined distance.

Item 13. The stacked connector assembly of item 12, wherein the center to center separation (10) between the circuit boards of the first and second connector assemblies is within 5% of the predetermined distance.

Item 14. The stacked connector assembly of item 12, wherein the predetermined distance is 2.8 mm.

Item 15. The stacked connector assembly of any of items 1 through 14, wherein the stacked connector assembly is configured to mate with a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly along a mating direction, the first contacts of the circuit board of each of the first and second connector assemblies comprising a plurality of first signal contacts having a first average length and longitudinal mid-points lying on a first lateral axis perpendicular to the mating direction, the first lateral axes of the first and second connector assemblies offset from each other by a first offset distance along the mating direction, a ratio of the first offset distance to the first average length being less than about 0.15.

Item 16. The stacked connector assembly of item 15, wherein the ratio of the first offset distance to the first average length is less than about 0.10.

Item 17. The stacked connector assembly of item 15, wherein the ratio of the first offset distance to the first average length is less than about 0.07.

Item 18. A stacked connector assembly configured to mate with a mating connector along a mating direction and comprising:

a plurality of connector assemblies stacked in a first direction perpendicular to the mating direction, each connector assembly comprising:

a connector comprising:

a dielectric housing; and

a circuit board disposed in the housing and perpendicular to the first direction, the circuit board comprising:

wherein each of at least two connectors in the connector assemblies comprises a latch receiving area disposed on a first major surface of the housing of the connector for receiving and removably attaching to a latching member;

wherein a latching member is removably received in and attached to the latch receiving area of at least one, but not every, connector in the at least two connectors in the connector assemblies for latching the stacked connector assembly to a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly; and

a coupler disposed between and attached to the housings of each adjacent pair of connector assemblies.

Item 19. The stacked connector assembly of item 18 comprising at least three connector assemblies, each of at least two connectors in the connector assemblies comprising a latch receiving area, and a latching member removably received in and attached to the latch receiving area of at least one, but not every, connector in the at least two connectors in the connector assemblies.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing feature sizes, amounts, and physical properties used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term "about." Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the foregoing specification and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by those skilled in the art utilizing the teachings disclosed herein. The use of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all numbers within that range (e.g. 1 to 5 includes 1, 1.5, 2, 2.75, 3, 3.80, 4, and 5) and any range within that range.

Various modifications and alterations of these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and it should be understood that this scope of this disclosure is not limited to the illustrative embodiments set forth herein. For example, the reader should assume that features of one disclosed embodiment can also be applied to all other disclosed embodiments unless otherwise indicated.

Claims

1. A stacked connector assembly comprising:

a connector comprising:

a dielectric housing;

a circuit board disposed in the housing and comprising:

2. The stacked connector assembly of claim 1, wherein the latch receiving area of each housing is disposed on the first major surface of the housing opposite a second major surface, and wherein the coupler is disposed between and attached to the second major surfaces of the housings of the first and second connector assemblies.

3. The stacked connector assembly of claim 1, wherein the connectors of the first and second connector assemblies are same type connectors.

4. The stacked connector assembly of claim 1, wherein the connector of the first connector assembly is a first type connector and the connector of the second connector assembly is a different second type connector.

5. The stacked connector assembly of claim 1, wherein the coupler is removably attached to at least one of the housings of the first and second connector assemblies.

6. The stacked connector assembly of claim 1, wherein the coupler is overmolded onto portions of at least one of the housings of the first and second connector assemblies.

7. The stacked connector assembly of claim 1, wherein the stacked connector assembly is configured to mate with a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly along a mating direction, the first contacts of the circuit board of each of the first and second connector assemblies comprising a plurality of first signal contacts having a first average length and longitudinal mid-points lying on a first lateral axis perpendicular to the mating direction, the first lateral axes of the first and second connector assemblies offset from each other by a first offset distance along the mating direction, a ratio of the first offset distance to the first average length being less than about 0.15.

8. The stacked connector assembly of claim 7, wherein the ratio of the first offset distance to the first average length is less than about 0.10.

9. A stacked connector assembly configured to mate with a mating connector along a mating direction and comprising:

a connector comprising:

a dielectric housing; and

wherein a latching member is removably received in and attached to the latch receiving area of at least one, but not every, connector in the at least two connectors in the connector assemblies for latching the stacked connector assembly to a mating connector of the stacked connector assembly; and a coupler disposed between and attached to the housings of each adjacent pair of connector assemblies.

10. The stacked connector assembly of claim 9 comprising at least three connector assemblies, each of at least two connectors in the connector assemblies comprising a latch receiving area, and a latching member removably received in and attached to the latch receiving area of at least one, but not every, connector in the at least two connectors in the connector assemblies.